"My mission will not be completed until Shigeru and Sakie Yokota hold their daughter Megumi in their arms," said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a speech delivered in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on July 19, referring to the girl who is among a number of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents during the 1970s and '80s and whose whereabouts are still unknown.
Abe has made resolution of the abduction issue his most important agenda item and the future of his administration hinges on the outcome of his efforts.
Before Abe's speech, North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency announced July 4 that a new round of investigation into the fate of the abductees would be launched by a special investigation commission headed by So Dae Ha, who was the No. 2 man of the State Security Department (SSD), doubling as a high-ranking member of the National Defense Commission.